Dec 9, 2022 3 min read

The time was ripe for ideas. A global pandemic had arrived in Southwestern Pennsylvania, and members of the Penn State Extension’s Master Gardener program in Greene County were in a quandary not only about staying safe and staying together but preserving the food they were growing.

Educational programs they typically offered in the spring to kindergartners and elementary students were canceled in the spring of 2020, creating the distinct possibility that tomatoes the group was growing would have to be pitched.

“We had more than 125 tomato plants in need of homes,” said Cheryl Brendel, the Greene coordinator. “We made a group decision that we couldn’t let all of those plants to go to waste. We were working with the food bank, so that came into play.”

Her organization and Corner Cupboard Food Bank, the county’s only food bank, collaborated on a deliciously ripe idea: give away the plants at monthly food distributions at the Greene County Fairgrounds. It proved to be a masterful, award-winning plan in a region dealing with food insecurity.

Master Gardeners distributed 87 tomato plants in 2020, raised 120 the next year and gave most to 84 families, transplanting the others in the Corner Cupboard’s community garden; then grew 245 plants this year, added giveaway sites and planted again in the community garden. Instructions for planting, watering and use of sunlight accompanied the giveaways.

Their endeavors earned the Greene County volunteers recognition at the recent statewide Penn State Master Gardener conference. The group’s tomato plant giveaway program earned an honorable mention in the community service category of the David Gibby Search for Excellence Awards.

“I’m proud of my Master Gardeners for coming up with the idea and continuing to promote assistance for food insecurity in the county,” Brendel said. “They went above and beyond during the pandemic to reach out to the public.”

Groups from two neighboring counties took first place at the conference: Fayette in the Community Service category for “Seed to Supper” and Washington in Innovative Project for “Garden Boxes.”

Penn State Extension, under the auspices of Pennsylvania State University, is committed to providing science-based information. It has a land grant extension office in each of the state’s 67 counties and a Master Gardeners program in all of them. Greene County’s extension office is at 26 W. High St., Waynesburg, sharing space with the local 4-H program.

“Each office is different because each county is different in climate, rain and soil,” Brendel said.

The Extension strives to educate the public through youth programs and reach out to the community through projects, workshops, presentations – and Master Gardeners, who must be 18 or older.

Becoming a Master Gardener can be an arduous challenge, Brendel admits. “We interview people to see if they want to go into it for the right reasons. Our training is intense. It’s like taking college courses. There’s a test, then 40 hours of public service before you can be certified.”

Brendel has been part of this organization since 2010 after she retired as a nursing administrator for UPMC. She started as a volunteer before moving up to coordinator, the only paid member in the Greene County office. She works 10 hours weekly and oversees 17 Master Gardeners and seven new students.

Brendel said she received a record number of Master Gardener applications this year. “Some of those were because they’re hearing more and more about the need for saving our pollinators and the need for native plants.”

And the need to serve the community.